Deep black levels and wide viewing angles in a paper-thin panel could make OLED the best TV technology yet.
Philip Wong/CNET Asia

Big-screen OLED TV technology has taken years to come to market, and LG's 55EM9600 won CNET's Best of CES award in January, so among technology enthusiasts, it's safe to classify anticipation for the 4mm-thin television as "high."

CNET's Asia's TV reviewer Philip Wong got the opportunity to spend some hands-on time with an early version of the set yesterday in Monaco, and he liked what he saw -- from deep black levels to superb off-angle viewing, with a potential for accurate color. His conclusion?

In many ways, the 55EM9600 is the "spiritual successor" to the lengendary Pioneer Kuro. Until we have a chance to check out the Samsung OLED panel, this LG easily sets the new benchmark in terms of TV picture quality and slim design.

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Your next questions might be "when" and "how much?" Our latest indications are "about $10,000 U.S." and "sometime in the second half of this year." We were told June is "unlikely."

Rest assured that I'll review a shipping, U.S. production version of the LG OLED as soon as possible, pitting its picture quality against the best-performing TVs of the year. I'll also compare the LG with the forthcoming OLED TV from Samsung (LG promises its model will arrive first, in Europe at least). It should be fun!

About the author

Section Editor David Katzmaier has reviewed TVs and home entertainment gear at CNET since 2002. He is an ISF certified, NIST trained calibrator and developed CNET's TV test procedure himself. Previously David wrote reviews and features for Sound & Vision magazine and eTown.com. He is known to two people on Twitter as "The Cormac McCarthy of consumer electronics."
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